Kitchen Counter
by Daten Shura
Summary: Bobby reflects on his life and existance, as well as a certain Canadian speedster.


Title: Kitchen Counter  
  
Author: Jaime  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Pairing: Hinted JP/Iceman.  
  
The kitchen counter is a bad reminder of a better time.  
  
Bobby idly thought that he had heard that line in a song somewhere. What the name of the song was or who it was by, he couldn't remember as he stood there staring rather dumbly at the kitchen counter where his chipped mug containing coffee rested. It was actually quiet in the mansion for once, which was rather rare these days. Well, it was relatively quiet, anyway. There was still that slight buzz of ever-present activity going on in the background.  
  
But what was important was that the buzz of activity was currently not centered in the kitchen. Which was probably not surprising, considering that this was an odd time of day for one to be in the kitchen. It was neither breakfast time, lunch time, or dinner time. Not even really a snack time.   
  
Yet there the resident popsicle was, standing like an idiot as he stared into the black depths of his coffee mug as if it held all the answers to the universe. Now, this might seem odd for anyone other than Bobby to be doing. But this was Bobby, and one learned that he had a few peculiar habits. New comers were slightly disturbed by them, but they got over it. Paige had been one of them.  
  
He was able to stand there, standing at the murky liquid as long as he wanted, because it wasn't as if anyone needed him in the mansion. Sure, he taught a couple of classes a month as a substitute, but that was about it. If there was no life-threatening crisis for the X-Men to deal with, people generally forgot about the resident clown. So there he stood idly, with no specific motive or intent.  
  
Bobby wondered if he should freeze the coffee in the mug, just for fun. It wasn't worth it, though, with no one around to see him up to his antics. Not that anyone appreciated them anymore. No one smiled or laughed when he pulled his pranks or told his jokes anymore, but instead scowled at him to quit being childish and take things more seriously.   
  
Why did everyone think that just because he indulged himself in a little humor every now and then, that Bobby couldn't take things seriously?  
  
For example, his secondary mutation. He took that very seriously. New additions to the team. He took that seriously, too, albeit with a bit of sarcasm. The whole being bodyless thing. Alex didn't seem to think he had taken that situation seriously, but what would he know about being decapitated and only being left with the head?  
  
So maybe he was a bit childish. So what? If being mature was sitting around moping all the time like everyone else did, then Bobby would gladly pass that up. Not to say that he hadn't done his share of that lately. He doubted that anyone had noticed, though. Maybe Kurt, but that was about it. For heaven's sake, these were the people who didn't even know that he was going through a secondary mutation until the kitchen help discovered him in the freezer.  
  
A damn lot of family they were.  
  
Oddly enough, the one person who bothered to notice was the person he would least expect to. One of the latest additions to the team... Northstar. Then again, didn't the man notice everything? It was like he couldn't help criticizing everything and anything. It was really sad if Bobby was actually happy about the cynical man taking any note of him.  
  
Though he had to admit, he'd started wearing even more hideous and mismatching clothes just to see the look on the Canadian's face.   
  
"What are you wearing?" Speaking of the devil, a faintly accent voice drifted over from the entrance of the kitchen.  
  
A grin slowly curled up Bobby's lips as he finally took his eyes off his now lukewarm cup of coffee. Turning to face Jean-Paul, he smiled languidly at him as the prankster stood there, clad in a purple and green Hawaiian shirt and orange shorts. He had certainly outdone himself this time.  
  
"Greetings to you as well, JP," Bobby said with amusement clear in his voice, taking in the expression on the other man's face.  
  
And so the day drifted off, leaving the kitchen counter to left undiscovered until the next morning. 


End file.
